An Annotated List of Period Armorials Available Online

I spend a fair amount of time "flipping through"
electronic texts, reviewing heraldic emblazons from the 16th century
and before or searching them for examples of particular charges,
arrangements, etc. I've decided I could benefit from a reference
that would lead me to emblazons of a particular style or remind
me what the contents of a given book are, so that I can spend
more time looking at what interests me and less looking
for what interests me. This page is my answer to that
need. Its contents and organization reflect my interests and the
way I best remember and retrieve information; it may not fit anyone
else's quite as well. But if it is helpful to you, I hope you'll
use it.

I'm grouping the texts by region and/or subject as I go. Thus
far, I have:

Armorials from the Low Countries

Flemish chorography in portraits of sovereigns, the arms of
nobles, and the lands in its geography

the Netherlands, 1562

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

Most pages from folio 2v
through folio 42v have a ring above which a single small escutcheon
appears. Some of the rings contain portraits and a few have two
or more escutcheons or escutcheons with crowns and livery collars.
The real armorial starts on 44v.
That page of it features some crowned shields and a couple of
shields pendant from crested helms; the rest of it has only small,
simple escutcheons. There's a map at the very end of the book.

Iberian Armorials

arms of the counts, vicounts, etc. of Cataluna, Castille,
and Portugal

Spain, 15th-16th century

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

This volume has arms in several distinct styles. It may contain
pages that were originally part of a number of different documents.

From folio 1r
to folio 45r, the achievements include a helm with a small crest
and feathery mantling. From 46r,
to 118r, the shields are larger with rounder bottoms (except
for folios 47r
and 76r,
which have more elaborate shields with crests and mantling),
and most have coronets of various types on top. Those on folios
48r
and 62r
also have flags along their bottom curves, and those on 67r,69r,
and 112r
and 113r have small helms with crests and mantling instead of
coronets. There's one more eleaborate shield with helm, crest,
and mantling on 119r.
Each folio from 120r
through 151r shows a shield hanging by a strap from a large helm
with a small crest and extensive mantling. A half-dozen escutcheons
of miscellaneous styles, one with a helm and mantling, start
on folio 152v.
Then there are a few blank pages and pages with only text. Folios
159v
through 167r host a series of simple escutcheons of unusual shape.
Folios 168r
through 173r have more basic round-bottomed escutcheons, still
without accompanying achievements. There are a few blank folios,
then on 174v
and 175r is the first group of multiple arms together on the
page, some of which are topped with coronets. It's followed by
another of the unusually-shaped shields, then a second group
of shields that stretches across two pages.

English Armorials

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The armorial begins on folio 2r
with the achievement of the King of England, which includes supporters
and a motto and is surrounded by four separate royal badges.
Below that are two achievements, with supporters, showing the
king's arms impaled with those of Catherine of Aragon and Anne
Boleyn, respectively. The next page shows four more achievements
with supporters, showing the kings arms impaled with those of
each of the other four wives of Henry VIII in turn.

Each of the folios 3r
through 14v shows six achievements with helms and mantling neatly
arranged just on top of the escutcheons. Almost all of them have
crests. On the first eight of those pages, most achievements
include supporters and about half of the escutcheons are encircled
by the blue garter of the Order of the Garter. There are another
three pairs of supporters on the second and third pages after
that, then no more in the book.

Starting on folio 15r,
the arms are grouped twelve on a page. They still have helms
and just-on-top mantling. The first two-and-one-third pages have
mitres for crests. Some of the rest have more usual crests, but
the majority have none.

There are quite a number of blank pages at the end of the
book, but none before that.

Swiss Armorials

Manuscript Number and Description

Notes

Representative Pages

SGS Cod. Sang. 1084

armorial made by Hans Haggenberg for Ulrich Rösch, abbot
of Saint Gall's, in the 15th century

Select "3x4" on the "View" pull-down menu
to view thumbnails twelve at a time.

The first arms in the book appera on page 1,
the last on 337. There are a couple of individual blank pages
in the book, but no large block of them before the end of the
emblazons.

The bulk of the book has achievements with straight-sided,
round-bottomed escutcheons, helms, crests, and mantling, appearing
two [pages 54
and 55, 120
and 121, 142
and 143, 176
and 177, 180
through 189, 194
through 205, 324,
328,
and 329], four [pages 56
through 81, 122
through 141, 190
through 193, 330
through 337] or six [pages 84
through 115, 148
through 171, 206
and 207, 244
through 296, and 300
through 323] to a page.

There are several other arrangements that appear on multiple
pages. Pages 1
and 4 each show an armed and armored figure lying on the grown
with a stylized tree growing out of it. Roughly two dozen shields,
each with a letter written next to it, hang from the branches.
On pages 2 and 3 the same letters are associated with rectangles
on which names are written, and a single crested helm is drawn
at the bottom of each. On each page 9
through 13 four pairs of escutcheons, each topped by a single
mitre, appear. Pages 17
through 21 each have six large simple escutcheons. Pages 23, 42 through
53, 82,
83, 174,
178
, 208,
and 209 each feature a large central achievement surrounded by
smaller escutcheons; the numbers and arrangements of small escutcheons
and the elements included in the achievements vary. Pages 25 through
35 and 173
have small escutcheons, up to twelve to a page. And pages 210,
through 239 have achievements with helms, crests, mantling, and
escutcheons of a different shape than those in most of the book
presented one to a page.

There are also several things that appear only once in the
book. Page 14
has a single unpainted achievement, with helm, crest, and mantling.
Page 15
has a tower from which two flags (for King David and King Solomon)
fly. A dozen small and one larger escutcheon are on it, two more
ones bracketing it. Page 16
has three large crowned escutcheons, each associated with a heraldic
flag. Page 40
has an elaborate roundel with the double eagle of the Holy Roman
Empire on an escutcheon in the middle and fourteen smaller escutcheons
around it. Page 41 has two large crowned escutcheons, each with
two small flags behind it. Page 116
has one large and two small waisted escutcheons drawn in a different
style from the rest of the book. Page 179
has a large escutcheon with a coronet and crest and two slightly
smaller ones with helms, crests, and mantling. Page 243
has five achievements in varying styles. Page 298
has a single achievement in a different style than the rest of
the book. Page 338 has two escutcheons joined by a helm with
mantling.

German Armorials

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The first arms pictured are on folio 23v
and the last on 218r. There are several places in the book where
pages of arms are separated by multiple blank pages or pages
with blank escutcheons, and quite a number of pages where arms
have been drawn but not painted. Most of the fully-colored arms
come after folio 78r.
Many of those include crests.

I do not know which of the emblazons were created before 1600
and which after the S.C.A's period.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The arms in the book appear in several sections,
separated by blank pages, pages with blank escutcheons, and/or
pages of text. The arms start on folios 1br,
24r,
and 47r.
Almost all the arms pictured are accompanied by crests, and several
types of mantling are used. There are also portraits of heralds
wearing and carrying emblems of their office on folios 1ar
and 46r.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The first arms pictured are on folio 3r.
They are followed by several other pages of full-color arms,
then by several blank pages, pages with blank escutcheons, and
pages (beginning on folio 20r)
showing heraldic flags and crests. The achivements with colored
arms begin again on folio 30r.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

According to the index on the library website, the 15th-century
emblazons are found on folios 1
through 476. They appear in large, detailed achievements. Each
set of mantling was individually drawn, so no two are alike.

The style of the artwork changes significantly starting on
folio 477, where the portion of the book described as "Jüngerer
teil der Wappensamlung" ('newer section of the armory collection')
begins. I don't know whether any of the images in that section
were painted before 1600 or not.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

There are a handful of imperial achievements
in the preface,
but the real armorial starts on folio 1r.
Some pages show simple escutcheons, but many include complete
achievements. Four heraldic flags are pictured on folio 81v.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The Imperial arms are on folio 21,
followed over the next several pages by portraits of Kaiser Karl
V and the prince-electors that include small achievements, but
the real armorial starts on folio 43.
Several pages on which human figures appear holding shields or
large, beautifully-painted heraldic flags are interspersed among
the pages giving achievements.

register and armorial of the Augsburg canon Matthaeus Marschall
of Pappenheim (1458-1541)

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

Most of the book is organized like a family tree.
An occassional escutcheon is included (usually in color, but
some just sketched in) on the folios shown in images 10
through 258. In addition, several of the folios in images 278
through 315 show rows of shields held by human figures.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

arms on almost every page, on plain escutcheons, in achievements,
and in portraits and fanciful settings, plus some interesting
livery collars, but all photographed in grayscale

Image 14
shows several heraldic flags. Image 237
shows an interesting scene featuring a gallery of crests and
people viewing it. Image 239
shows a group of women carrying heraldic flags and is closely
followed by a couple of folios showing mounted combatants on
a tourney field and then by several pages of achievements that
have flag-bearing women scattered among them.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

Folio 1r
is long and narrow, with 32 small achievements including helms
with crests and mantling painted sideways on the page.

Starting on folio 2r,
there are three and a half pages of simple escutcheons. Folio
4r
has sixteen achievements with helms, crests, and mantling. The
bulk of the rest of the book is done in a similar style, but
with nine achievements per page instead of sixteen. From folio
55v
through 62v the same basic layout is used but no crest or mantling
has been filled in. The last three pages (starting on folio 63r)
each have sixteen larger simple escutcheons in the same style
as those on folios 2r through 3v.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The armorial starts on folio 1r
. Almost every page has nine achievements, with helms, mantling,
and crests. There are a couple of pages that have fewer, but
of the same size and style. A number of pages are only partly
painted. There are several places where one or two blank pages
or pages of text interrupt the arms.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The first arms are on folio 3v.
There are 133 pages each showing a dramatically-posed man with
weapons and gold-chased armor near whom a shield stands balanced
on its lower point with a crested helm poised on its top edge
and mantling tumbling around it. There are a few text pages interrupting
the arms here and there, but never for longer than a page or
two at a time.

Jakob Streit's register with the arms of the relatives of
his Tübingen and Ingolstadt university friends and of colleagues
in the Imperial Chamber Court in Speyer

southern Germany, between 1560 and 1615

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The arms begin on folio 1r.
Almost every page has just one achievement. They are painted
in a variety of styles. Many of them seem to have been cut out
and pasted onto the pages. I don't know whether that's a result
of conservation efforts or if it started out as a scrap book.
Some of the cut-outs are badly damaged.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The first achievement appears on folio 1r.
It includes a helm, crest, and mantling and the livery chain
of the order. It's followed by several pages of text. Four simpler
achievements, with helms and minimal mantling, appear together
on folio 5r.
Starting there, a pattern emerges. Ther'es a page with four small
achievements, a page that is blank or has only text, a page with
one large achievement with a livery collar, and a page that is
blank or has only text. Then the pattern repeats. This goes on
to folio 17r,
where the pattern becomes one page of four, then one page that's
blank or has only text. There are a few places where this pattern
is interrupted by pages that have four blank escutcheons with
unpainted helms and mantling. The first couple are just one page
long, but as the end of the book nears they get longer (up to
five pages of blank escutcheons, with completely blank pages
between). The last arms in the book are on folio 114r, and they're
followed by quite a number of blanks.

register of Hans Lorenz of Trautskirchen and of Hans Jörg
of Elrichshausen, using Abraham de Bruyn's Diversarum gentium
armatura equestris

Ingolstadt, between1575 and 1615

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The achievements in this book are presented one on a page,
mostly in elaborate printed settings. They are scattered between
images of mounted male and female figures (from de Bruyn's work)
and blank escutcheons in similar settings. Most include crests
and mantling.

Dated achievements painted in the early 17th century appear
on folios 63r,
65r,
67r,
and 69r.

Undated achievements appear on folios 10r,
36av
and 71r.
Since the dated pages in the book seem to be more-or-less in
chronological order, I'd guess the first two were painted before
1600. The third is the last painted page in the book, so it's
hard to say when it was done.

arms of those who attended the 1594 Imperial Diet in Regensburg
as participants

1594, perhaps in Regensburg

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

From folio 1r
to folio 48r,
most pages show one achievement each. The style in which they
are rendered and their included elements vary widely. Some have
helms and crests (up to three per escutcheon), some galeros or
mitres and croziers, and some simple escutcheons. There are a
few places where the arms are interrupted by up to three blank
pages and a few pages that have two or three escutcheons on them.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

There are seven achievements in this little book,
the first on folio 1r.
One of them is dated 1601 and one has no date; the rest are from
the end of the 16th century. All include helms, crests, and mantling
and have text above them (which may, at least in some cases,
be mottoes, either written out or abbreviated) and text below.

portraits of the Habsburg rulers of the 14th century, based
on the stained glass in Königsfelden Abbey in the canton
of Aargau

southwest Germany, the middle of the 16th century

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

There are 14 portraits of people kneeling on shields and nine
achievements without people attached. The first arms appear on
folio 1r.

The achievements vary in style. Most have helms, crests, and
mantling. One has a livery collar. A couple of the people are
kneeling on two shields, and one is kneeling between two. One
of the shields of 19v is cut in half; the rest of it is on 24r.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

Multiple styles of emblazon are seen here.

The first achievement is on folio 1r.
It includes supporters. It is followed by three simple one-to-a-page
escutcheons. Additional single achievements that aren't part
of any larger pattern are on folios 161r,
215v,
and 220v
. The first two have helms, crests, and mantling. 220v has a
crown, supporters, and a livery collar.

Folios 3r
through 34v show straight-sided, round-bottomed escutcheons four
to a page. A few have crests.

There's one achievement with a waisted, pointed-bottomed escutcheon,
two crested helms, and mantling on folio 40r.
The next two painted pages each have four similar achievements.

From folio 42r
to 57v there are six small achievements with waisted, pointed-bottomed
escutcheons, helms, mantling, and crests on each page.

On 58v
and 59r there are a couple of achievements (still with helms,
crests, and mantling) presented within annulets on which text
is written.

Folios 60v
and 61r each have four achievements with waisted escutcheons,
one or two helms, and mantling.

Starting on folio 63r,
there are several pages with one large achievement each, incorporating
crowns, mitres, galeros, or helms with crests and mantling. Folio
71r
has such an achievement with four small simple escutcheons around
it.

Folios 72v
through have two achievements each. These have crosiers or helms
with crests and mantling.

Folios 82r
through 86v have achievements with helms, crests, and mantling
four to a page.

Folios 87r
has sixteen simple escutcheons. 87v has nine of the same size
and shape, then one smaller one and one achievement including
a helm, crest, and mantling.

Folios 88r
and 88v each have four pairs of straight-sided, round-bottomed
escutcheons with a helm with crest and mantling over the sinister.

Starting on folio 89r,
there are again four achievements with helms, crests, and mantling
per page. The style of the renderings is different from those
on the earlier four-achievement pages.

Folios 97r
to 107v have small achievements with waisted shields, helms,
crests, and mantling, mostly nine to a page. The style is different
from previous achievements. There are a lot of repetitions in
the arms.

One-to-a-page achievements with helms, crests, and minimal
mantling are on folios 109r
to 127r

From 128r
to 150r there are two large simple escutcheons per painted page.
From 151r
to 154r and from 180r
to 201v there are four . From 162r
to 177r and 202r
to 203r there are nine. And on 216r
and 216v there are sixteen.

Large, central achievements with helms and mantling start
on folio 221r.
A few of the pages also have badges or extra crests. The large
achievement is accompanied by one to six smaller escutcheons
or achievements on folios 238r
to 241r, 262r,
and 262v.

A single image stretching across folios 217v
and 218r shows small escutcheons in rings around the field of
Bavaria. Folios 219r
to 220r each show the imperial achievement flanked by rows of
arms on simple escutcheons.

Folio 93r
and 93v show heraldic flags. Portraits of heralds in the trappings
of their office balancing shields on the ground are found one
to a page on folios 210r
to 215r.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The site doesn't list folio numbers, but the pages have numbers
written on them. Most sections of the book vary too much for
it to be useful to describe them, but I've tried to give myself
a guide to where certain types of emblazons might be found to
make the book easier to use. Several styles are repeated in multiple
sections, as if several books were taken apart and the pages
shuffled in. Other styles appear only in certain portions of
the text.

Southern German and Tirolean achievements are on pages 13
through 26. French arms (and, according to the library, the family
arms of European nobility) start on page 27,
four to a page on simple round-bottomed escutcheons. From the
middle of page 36
through page 57 the escutcheons are mostly inverted teardrops.
Pages 58
through 60 each have a large central escutcheon with four smaller
ones around it, and then it's back to several round-bottomed
escutcheons per page. Arms of the German nobility start on page
65.
Spanish and Portuguese arms start on page 88.
Page 99
has a few arms of German nobility and cities.

Extracts from Haller's register start on page 100.
The first few pages are achievements, many with double helms,
that seem to have been cut out and pasted into the book. From
104 through 114 they're painted directly on to the page, six
to a page, with helms, crests, and mantling. Then they're pasted
in again starting on 115,
mostly five to a page. From 155
they're drawn directly again, only four to a page, with larger
helms.

Arms of the electorates and authorities of the Imperial Circle
of the Holy Roman Empire begin on page 203.
Each page is ruled into twelve blocks and an achievement is drawn
in each block. The styles in which they are drawn vary some.
Most of them have helms (more than one, in many cases), crests,
and mantling. There are some livery collars on page 220.

On page 223-225
is the first of three pages designated by the library as "outlines
of national arms". The individual escutcheons and achievements
in this section vary wildly, and many are painted only partly
or not at all.

Painted and engraved armorial pages primarily related to the
Randegg family start on page 229.
The individual achievements have, again, been cut from various
sources and pasted into the book. They vary a great deal.

On page 234
begins a collection of family and national arms of the Holy Roman
Empire. The first few pages have been ruled into twenty-four
blocks. After page 239
there are twelve blocks to a page. Each block is labeled and
achievements have been drawn in many (but not all) of them. They
vary in their style. Most include helms, crests and mantling.
After page
243 many of them have heraldic flags next to them in the
block.

Starting on page 245
more achievements are pasted into the book. Again, their sizes
and styles and the number on each page vary considerably. There
is an armored man holding a shield on page 247.
There are more flags on page 258.

The pedigree of the Plarer family is on pages 269_2
and 269a. Each page is divided into about 30 blocks, with one
or two escutcheons per block. Some have arms and achievements
drawn in and painted, some don't.

Achievements of the Austrian authorities and cities begin
on page 271.
Most of them have been cut out and pasted into the book. Their
styles and sizes vary quite a bit. Many of them have mitres and
crosiers instead of helms and mantling.

Arms of Tunieradels (whatever they are) start on page
296.
They're painted in a style not seen elsewhere in the book, with
fewer drawn-in details. Many of them have helms, crests, and
mantling, but a good number are simple escutcheons. There are
a few heraldic flags among them, on pages 342
and 343a.

After page 344
the achievements become more varied again. On page 346-350
the achievements of commoners from München and Augsburg
begin.

On page 356
start the arms of commoners from Regensburg. Most are presented
with helms, crests, and mantling, but some are simple escutcheons.
Some are marked with 14th- or 15th-century dates--perhaps those
on which the arms were granted. The styles vary considerably,
and some achievements are pasted into the book.

Page 404-410
starts a section of arms of princes, diocese, and noble families.
Many of these appear to have been block-printed onto the page
or cut out of a printed sheet, then hand colored and pasted into
the book. Most of them are full achievements or simple escutcheons,
many on a page. There are a few single achievements. There are
also a few escutcheons with crowns, caps, or laurel chaplets
instead of helms and mantling. Starting on page 444
there are a few pages of "trading cards" with portraits,
arms, and dates.

Commoners' arms from Augsburg start on page 450
and commoners' arms from Ingolstadt on 462.
They're varied; some are pasted in.

National arms and arms of the nobility of the Holy Roman Empire
begin again on page 468-470.
They begin with several pages of uncolored posted-in printed
arms. Then there are several pages painted in the style seen
in the arms of Tunieradels, above.

Family arms of the nobility start on page 511.
They don't seem to be finished. The arms and crests are fully
painted on the first couple of pages, but the helms and mantling
are barely sketched in. After that, most pages are partly-to-completely
unpainted. Page 520 has pasted-in printed achievements, also
uncolored.

There's a sizeable number of blank pages following page 525;
the armorial starts back up on 543,
with an armorial pedigree of the counts, lords, and burghers
of the Holy Roman Empire that takes the form of escutcheons sketched
twelve to a page, almost all unpainted, some with helms, crests,
and mantling. There are a few blank pages after 557. Some of
the achievements are partly colored on 571
and 581.
Pages 599
and 600 have painted emblazons in a new style, with crests floating
above them but no helms or mantles. Starting on 601
it's back to unpainted achievements, but the style begins to
vary more. Page 613
is partly painted. 614 is fully painted and has the floating
crests seen earlier. There are some livery collars on 623
and 670.
For several pages starting on 627,
most pages have helms with crests that aren't attached to escutcheons.
The last arms in the book are on page 695.

a large armorial containing arms of Holy Roman Emperors, European
noble houses, popes, cardinals, bishops, and abbots, up to the
time of Emperor Rudolf II and Pope Gregory XIII

southern Germany,1583

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The arms in the first section of this book are painted on
inverted-teardrop-shaped escutcheons with scrolling borders that
were printed onto the pages in a four-by-three grid. The arms
of Holy Roman Emperors start on folio 2r
and the arms of royal dynasties on 5r.
These escutcheons are crowned, except for those on the folio
6v, which are simple but have their borders colored yellow. (The
imperial coronets differ from the others.) The arms of lesser
noble houses (rulers of principalities, etc.) start on folio
7r
and finish on 16r. Most of these escutcheons wear caps of maintenance,
though those on folio 11r
are crowned and those on 15r
through 16r are simple with yellow borders. There are four sets
of ecclesiastical arms under red galeros on 19r.
After a few blank sheets, several pages of ecclesiastical arms
with mitres (and in some cases stoles) on top follow--Spanish
start on folio 21r,
Italian 21v,
French 24v,
English 26r,
Hungarian 28v,
ad those from "old kingdoms" 29r.
Finally we have the family arms of the popes, starting on folio
41r.
Most of these escutcheons either have red galeros on top or have
high domed hats on top and crossed keys behind them. On 42r
they have winged cherubs' heads, cathedrals, or mounts sprouting
flowers on top.

Folios 47r
through 49v have escutcheons in a variety of styles, most of
them crowned or wearing caps of maintenance.

Folios 50r
through 54v are ruled into larger boxes with plain escutcheons
and smaller boxes, under them, with labels.

Folios 55r
through 59r have waisted simple escutcheons nine to a page.

One-to-a-page achievements are found on folios 60r
through 122v, with the exception of folios 94v
and 95r (which share a single achievement ), 97r
(which has three escutcheons with a single crowned lion balanced
on their tops), 99r
(which is ruled with thick red lines into boxes with ecclesiastical
arms with demi-angels or demi-virgins-with-child on top), 104r
(which has an eagle displayed with small escutcheons scattered
on it), 109v
and 110r (which share a single achievement), 116r
(which has two simple escutcheons and an achievement with three
escutcheons sharing supporters and a single crested helm). They
vary widely in their styles and included elements. Many of them
have coronets, a few red or green galeros, most one to five helms
with crests and mantling.. Some of these pages include death-dates
for the individuals represented that are after 1600; I don't
know whether the pages were painted in the 17th century or later
or whether the dates were simply added in.

Each painted folio numbered 124r
through 134v has four achievements with helms, crests, and mantling
and waisted escutcheons.

135v
and 136r, 137v
and 138r, and 139v
and 140r show single achievements with multiple crested helms
that stretch over two pages.

Folio 142r
shows a single ecclesiastical achievement and is followed by
several pages of ecclesiastical portraits without armory, then
by portraits of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire
with their arms, two or three to a page, starting on folio 144r.

The last two painted folios in the book, numbers 150v,
and 151r, each contain six achievements in a landscape orientation.
Their contents vary, but most include a helm and mantling.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The arms appear one to a page, on the recto side
only of each folio, and are intricately painted with subtle diapering
on the fields and shading that gives many charges the illusion
of depth. There is nothing particularly ecclesiastical about
most of the arms themselves, though they are presented surrounded
by the trappings of the offices--either a mitre and crossed keys
or a red galero--and labelled with their bearers' names and titles.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The Roman section begins with four different escutcheons for
the city itself, then the achievements of several secular and
ecclesiastical leaders, usually labelled with their names and
titles. Arms of individuals start on folio 31r,
four to a page.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

On folio 1r
there's an escutcheon with a cord around it labled "Insignia
Religionis Rhodiensis". With the exception of one with a
cardinal's hat, the rest of the escutcheons in the book are quartered,
with the device from 1r in their 1st and 4th quarters, and are
surrounded by a string of beads with crosses and a tassel on
it. (It could be a rosary
or paternoster beads--it certainly resembles them. And its
particular form could be associated with the members of a specific
order or religious institution. I just don't know.)

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The section on Venice begins with arms for the city, then
the achievements of three popes. Arms of individuals begin on
5r,
four to a page.

The section on Mantua begins with arms for the city, then
the achievements of several secular rulers, (some of which are
followed by one or more pages of imprese, four to a page). The
arms of individuals start on folio 120r.

The section on Bologna begins with arms for the city, what
seems to be an achievement for the University of Bologna, the
achievements of several secular leaders of Bologna, and two popes.
Arms of individuals start on folio 161r.

The section on Ancona begins with arms for the city. Individual
arms start on folio 215r.

No civic arms are shown for Urbino. The achievements of a
few secular leaders precede the usual individual arms, which
begin on 247r.

The section on Perugia begins with arms for the city. Arms
of individuals start on folio 256r.

The section on Padua begins with arms for the city. Arms of
individuals start on folio 3r.

The section on Ferrara begins with arms for the city, then
the achievements of several secular and religious leaders, the
last of which is followed by three pages of imprese. Arms of
individuals begin on folio 47r.

The section on Pesaro begins with arms for the city, then
the achievement of a duke of Urbino. Individual arms start on
folio 63r.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The section on Lucca begins with two sets of arms for the
city, then the achievements of a pope and a duke of Lucca. Individual
arms start on folio 5r.

The section on Siena begins with arms for the city and the
achievements of three popes, followed by an unlabeled achievement
showing the arms of the third pope displayed with a crown. The
arms of individuals start on folio 32r.

The section on Pisa begins with arms for the city and the
achievement of one pope. Individual arms start on 71r.

The section on Pistoia begins with arms for the city. An ape
wearing a kerchief is clinging to the back of the escutcheon;
I'm not sure if it's a crest, a supporter, or what. Arms of individuals
start on folio 100r.

The sections on Volterra, Arezzo, Cortona, and Sansepolcro
each begin with the arms of the city, then proceed directly to
individual arms.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The section on Naples begins with arms for the city, achievements
of two popes, eight cardinals, and a variety of secular leaders.
The arms of individuals start on folio 27r.

The section on Genoa begins with arms for the city, arms labeled
"LIBERTAS", and the achievements of six popes, a prince,
eight cardinals, and four dukes of Urbino. The arms of individuals
start on folio 99r.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

Each painted page in this volume contains one set of arms
on a large escutcheon. Most of them are surrounded by the livery
collar of the order and have coronets above them. The forms of
the coronets seem to vary with the rank of the bearer, with that
of Kaiser Karl V, on folio 1r,
being the most elaborate. There is one section of the book, from
folio 47r
to folio 59r, in which they have red galeros, instead; the captions
indicate the bearers of these arms are cardinals.

Armorials of Knightly Orders

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The first arms in the book are those of the
founder of the order, Philip the Good, on 2v.
His achievement, like those of subsequent order principals, takes
up a full page and is followed by a portrait of him in the order's
regalia. The achievements of the other members of the order are
presented at about a quarter the size. They all include crests
and the livery collar of the order. Most pages (aside from those
with the principals' arms) contain four achievements. Some have
two achievements and a block of text and a few are all text or
are blank. There aren't more than two or three blank pages in
a row before the end of the book, where there are quite a few.

Click button marked "Miniaturansicht" above any
page to view thumbnails five at a time.

The first arms in the book are those of the
founder of the order, Philip the Good, on folio 2.
His achievement, like those of the other order principals, is
alone on the page and slightly larger than the achievements of
the other members (which are seen up to six on a page, usually
with some text). All the escutcheons are accompanied by helms
with crests; some of the marshalled arms have up to three each.

Folio 5v
shows St. George with a sword in his hand and a dragon at his
feet. He carries a shield with his attributed arms on it, and
the Garter King (principal officer of arms of the order) kneels
nearby wearing a heraldic tabard. Folios 7v through 20r each
show a knight wearing a heraldic tabard and, over that, a floor-length
cloak on the left shoulder of which the badge of the order is
displayed. His name is written on a scroll above his head, and
with his right hand he supports a framed panel on which are painted
the arms of successors to his stall in St. George's chapel in
Windsor Castle.

This page was written and is maintained by Coblaith
Muimnech, who owns the copyright to the text. Please do not
reproduce any portion of it without express consent.